Skimming ceilings

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pjsmith

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Hi,

I'm in the process of re-plastering most of the interior of our 1930's house. I seem to be getting the hang of walls quite well, but have not tackled a ceiling yet.

What I'm not sure of, what do people use to get themselves high enough to plaster the ceiling? I've heard of but do not want to use slits. I'm accident prone enough as it is!

Problem is it's a fairly big ceiling (for me) and whilst I now can easily do walls of the same area, I don't want to be mucking around too much.

Is it a case of crates and scaffolding boards?

What do you use?

Thanks.
 
I've been using 2 sets of kitchen steps & a scaffold board; not exactly HSE approved & obviously not recommended if doing it on a regular basis but it's quiet stable & can be shifted easily.

If this is your first ceiling, be aware that you’ll probably find it difficult to achieve the same work rate initially that you can on walls, especially if you mix your own. Whilst I've handled walls of 18 sq/m+ in one go, I can’t yet manage that on a ceiling; I’ve had to do 2 of the largest ceilings we have in 2 hits; not ideal but you can loose the join with some hard trowel work & a little local filling of any blemishes afterwards; ceilings also make your arms & shoulders ache like hell!
 
As suggested scaffold board will give a good platform to work from - I usually sit the boards on milk/beer crates, they're light and easy to move around. One thing I would suggest when doing a ceiling as a novice wear some sort of eye protection 8) - maybe it was just me but when I first started ceilings I seemed to get big dollops of plaster on my shoulders and splattered over my face, mutifinish stings when it gets in your eyes - good luck
 
Thanks for the tips. I've already learnt not to stand under the trowel! :)

Richard C, how do you tackle the splitting the ceiling into 2 parts?
 
pjsmith said:
Richard C, how do you tackle the splitting the ceiling into 2 parts?
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I taper off the first skim (2nd coat) across the ceiling but not in a dead straight line. I then blend the second mix over the top of the first (about 100mm) & out around ½ metre to leave a wet edge to continue with the rest of the ceiling. The problem is that it’s going to suck like hell & go off very quickly over the first skim so you need to damp down initially & keep the plaster fairly wet so you can work it; but don’t use too much water or you’ll ruin it. Finish blending the whole width of the join first before moving on to the rest of the ceiling, if you leave it & come back it’ll be too far gone to work. I’ve done 2 ceilings like this & had only minimal filling here & there; I finish off with a light buff over with a ¼ sheet orbital sander & 120 grit wet/dry & I would defy anyone to find the join!
 
noseall said:
same here Richard, :wink: http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=627141#627141
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Absolutely; I’ve done both my two largest ceilings to date like this with very good results but I would probably still use a stop bead on a wall I couldn’t handle in one hit; I’ve tried blending but any low levels tend to be more noticeable on walls in artificial light, even more so if it’s 3.5m high!
 
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